IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot — who is retiring this month — revealed on Tuesday that the Israeli military has thwarted the shipment of thousands of rockets to Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

On a farewell visit to the Gaza border area, Gantz said, “We’ve foiled the smuggling of 15-20,000 rockets,” the Hebrew news site Makoreported.

He added, “I hope for a ceasefire that holds until the end of 2019 — when we can complete the barrier,” referring to the underground obstacle the IDF is building to prevent Hamas from tunneling into Israel.

The chief of staff also addressed the issue of Qatari funds earmarked for Gaza, saying they were not a means of buying off Hamas, but rather served Israel’s interests by improving Gaza’s economy.

Eizenkot’s visit came two days after a rocket was intercepted by the Iron Dome over the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon and the IAF responded with strikes on terror targets in Gaza.